SH Blog: Jackson will meet with Kerr next week, Big O thinks Anthony should leave town and go to Houston

Dirk Nowitzki is nervous about heading back home after splitting the series against the San Antonio Spurs, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas: “The Mavs seized home-court advantage in the series by routing the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 at the AT&T Center. However, Nowitzki doesn’t think the Mavs have much of a home-court advantage, as much as he appreciates the folks who fill the American Airlines Center. “I’m a little worried,” Nowitzki said. “I’m a little worried going home. I’d rather play Game 3 here, I guess. We’ve got to figure it out at home. We can’t relax. That’s the thing.” The Mavs tied for the league’s fourth-best road record (23-18) during the regular season, winning six of their last seven games away from the AAC. Their home record (26-15) was the worst of any of the West’s eight playoff teams, including a disappointing 4-4 homestand late in the season… “I like our intensity right now,” Nowitzki said. “It’s a little dangerous going home. We’ve been actually a decent road team all year, but at home, we haven’t figured it out yet. We’ve lost the big [home] games over the last couple of months. “We can’t take the foot off the gas. We’ve got to keep competing the same way, and then I like our chances going home.”

Jason Collins has been deemed one of the more influential people of this nation, from Roderick Boone of Newsday: “Jason Collins was a little surprised when he woke up Thursday morning. Collins, the first openly gay athlete to play in one of the nation’s top four professional sports leagues, learned that he had been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Beyonce graces the main cover and the Nets’ veteran big man is one of three people featured on one of the issue’s three inside covers along with Robert Redford and General Motors CEO Mary Barra. distinguishedBeyonce is married to former Nets part-owner Jay Z. “It’s a really prestigious honor,” Collins said after practice Thursday. “I’m really thankful to the people at Time for putting me on the list . . . It’s a cool honor, but I know I’m not just doing this by myself. There have been a lot of people who have helped me get to where I am, a lot of people who have made the path easier for me, and that’s the one thing I hope I’m doing for other people is making it easier for them to live their authentic life.”

Josh McRoberts got an appropriate fine for elbowing LeBron James in the throat, from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports: “Bobcats Josh McRoberts Fined $20K for his foul against MIami’s LeBron James (50 seconds left in Game 2, April 23) upgraded to a Flagrant 2.”

For what it’s worth, McRoberts says it wasn’t intentional, from Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report: “”Just kind of got caught up in the air there,” he said. “Came for the rotation. I’d have to see it. But I think, for me, in real time, he was coming pretty fast down the lane, he’s a big, strong guy. I was just trying to stop him from, first, getting the shot up. But then I think I just kind of got caught up in the air. It probably looked worse than what it was.” Should it have been a flagrant? “They didn’t call it,” McRoberts said. “So, no. It wasn’t intentional, so, no.”

Here are some interesting things said about Kevin Garnett from the Toronto Raptors side, from Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail: “The most mercurial presence on the team is Toronto-born team consultant and aide-du-camp Jamaal Magloire. The former All-Star sits behind the bench during games. Based on observation, his primary job is berating the opposition. Do Garnett’s comments bother you? “Hell, nah,” Magloire drawled. “He’s a talker who can’t back it up.” After dropping the mic, he swiveled away. Then he turned back and waved a finger the size of a jumbo hot dog. “And you can print that.” Jamaal Magloire. Canada’s hype man… “Not at all. I love KG,” Greivis Vasquez said. “I grew up watching this guy. I had a poster of him when I was younger, back home. When he was in Minnesota. Wearing 21.”

Pau Gasol more or less admitted that his decision on whether to stay with the Lakers will depend largely on the coaching scenario, from Mark Medina of Daily News: ““Re-signing for the Lakers is a possibility, but I’m not sure whether to say it’s a remote one,” Gasol wrote Wednesday on his personal Web site. “If there’s anything or anyone who could make me stay it’s Kobe Bryant. I’d stay for him, but there’d have to be significant changes. I’ve said it many times: I want to be in a team that has a solid chance to win another tournament and where I can be an important factor in the game.”… “I’ve never concealed the fact that D’Antoni’s style doesn’t suit my game,” Gasol wrote. “Everybody knows this. I don’t know if my decision will be swayed by whether Mike stays or leaves. Obviously, the coach is a very important factor for any team.”… “Money isn’t important to me,” Gasol wrote. “I have other priorities. A contract lasting several seasons, the make-up of the team that signs me: I’ll need to think long and hard. I won’t just go to the franchise that offers me the biggest salary, I know that.”

James Harden got very testy with an NBA.com reporter (Fran Blinebury) for asking questions about why he’s struggling on the offensive end, from Mike Tokito of The Oregonian: ““It’s basketball – making shots,” Harden said before moving onto the next question. But when his media session in the Rockets opulent locker room ended, Harden went back at the reporter, asking if he had ever seen a player not play well before. The reporter answered that the struggle seemed unusual for Harden and was coming on a major stage, the playoffs. The two went back and forth for a while, with Harden asking the reporter if he’d ever seen a basketball game before, then demanding to know whom the reporter was. The exchange got testy enough that team officials stepped in to usher Harden out. As he left the room, Harden called the reporter “weirdo.” The uncomfortable exchange speaks to the suddenly precarious position the Rockets find themselves in. After losing Game 1 in overtime after blowing an 11-point lead in the final four minutes, the Rockets spent two days saying they were still confident and believed they had let a game they should have won slip away.”